Skye piper, 12, takes gold at day one of competitions at Royal National Mod in Perth

By Michelle Henderson

October 15 2022, 2:11 pm

Seonaidh Forrest of Sleat, Skye with his Gold Medal as winner of the under 15 Pibroch competition piping competition. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.

A young piper from Skye has taken home gold as competitions begin at the Royal National Mod in Perth.

Seonaidh Forres, from Sleat, secured the gold badge for his performance in the 15 and under pibroch piping competition at North Inch Community Campus.

The 12-year-old is following in the footsteps of both his father Decker Forrest and his grandfather.

He has been playing the pipes from the age of eight.

Seonaidh, a S1 student at Portree High School, fought off stiff competition from four fellow competitors to take home top prize.

Speaking after his performance, the young piper said: “It feels good especially as I think this is my first gold medal at the Royal National Mod.

Seonaidh Forrest of Sleat, Skye (right) with fellow islander Callum Alisdair Munro at the piping competitions in the North Inch Community Campus. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.

“I liked the big space to play in and I really liked the tune I performed.”

The 12-year-old is no stranger to the Royal National Mod, having previously competed in both singing and piping competitions.

In Glasgow, he competed in the under 13s chanter piping competition at just nine-years-old.

Last year, the young piper competed online for the first time as the Mod returned to the city of Inverness.

His mum, Floraidh Forrest, said they are “very proud.”

She said: “I haven’t been going to the competitions with him so I haven’t listened to him perform before but I knew when I heard him that he had played really well. He always seems to play better on the day and he did a good job. We’re very proud.”